New Purpose
by theracody
Summary: What do you do when some kid outshines you in what you dedicated much of your life for? When her entire purpose is taken from her, Zinnia finds herself on a journey of her own. Meanwhile, another new trainer will find his way into her path. Can Zinnia find a New Purpose and teach someone else what they need to achieve their dreams? Spoilers for OR/AS and B/W plot. Language warning.
1. Delta Aftermath

The image of a powerful trainer stood steadfast. Beyond them was easily the most powerful Pokemon in the entire region, and the fool had done what had been failed by a master of dragons. The last Loremaster for the Draconids couldn't reason with the majestic monster, but some kid fresh out of the Pokemon League had done the impossible.

Rayquaza seemed especially drawn to the new champion since the start, but never had Zinnia anticipated that it would be them to unlock the potential to power up even the most legendary of Pokemon. As they slid into their suit and eventually mounted the spacebound creature, Zinnia returned to a standing position. Before long, the duo has disappeared into the frontier far above.

It was all she could do to hold back her tears and remain strong for Aster. Before she falls into her melancholy, Zinnia scribbles a quick note for the inevitably victorious trainer's return.

""I was finally able to bring everything to an end. I thank you for that. I think I'll spend some time now trying to find out if it's also possible to forge a new beginning for something once lost. Until we meet again,

Zinnia""

She hands the note to the small Whismur beside her. "They need to see this Aster. Come find me when you deliver it. You know where I'll be."

A small nod, which involved a humorous portion of the small Pokemon's body mass, is all the affirmation Zinnia needs before turning and making her way to the base of the Sky Pillar. She has barely made it two stories down before her tears show despite her efforts.

Time passes. Aster finds her way back to the still-puffy-eyed Zinnia. Everything begins to fade out.

* * *

The morning sun crests the distant peak of Mt. Chimney, rousing Zinnia from her restless slumber. Sitting up forces a yawn from her tired form and a mild stretch to aid in the slow process of waking. She reaches over to give Aster a small shake to jump start her own awakening.

A few moments pass, and Zinnia pulls out her map. She gazes at the sheet in front of her until her eyes focus, and goes over her most recent plan once more.

If I'm leaving Hoenn, it makes the most sense to travel to a port city. Her finger traces along an imaginary path, leading from her approximate location to Lilycove City. If I'm catching a boat to the next region, this is probably the fastest way.

"Wizz….mer," offers the pink ball which now stood beside Zinnia.

"Yeah, you're right Aster. It might be faster to go along to the Safari Zone and travel by land." Zinnia considers this new route, but decides against it. "Never mind. I don't want to run into our resident Pokemon League champion. It'll be less likely if we go oversea."

"Wiss, mer?" The tiny voice of her companion rang with truth.

"I don't want to fly there, sorry Aster. I don't think I want to face any of the other Pokemon right now."

Aster offered a bit of a cuddle to show her understanding. It was no secret, however, that even a Whismur could tell when she was being dramatic.

"But you do have a point. Oversea is unnecessarily complicated without the other pokemon. We'll do that."

She rolls the map up and sticks it into her new knapsack. Her blanket from the night before is lifted from the ground, dusted off, and wrapped around her neck. "Can't leave without the old cloak, eh Aster?"

Zinnia gazes down the road ahead of her. "Let's get moving, I guess."


	2. His Tale Begins

A knocking sound from downstairs is all it takes for Hilbert to rouse from his dreamless sleep. He passively takes note of the reasonably quiet conversation he heard downstairs.

"You're Hilbert's mother, right?" He cringes at this.

"Great, it's about me," mumbles the drowsy teenager. "Bet Bianca got me into trouble again."

"Yes, you must be Professor Juniper!" His mom sounded particularly pleased to see the Pokemon Professor.

Wait a second. Professor Juniper was here? Hilbert all but leapt out of bed! It was all he could do to avoid making a mad sprint downstairs to meet her personally. No amount of self-control would be keeping him upstairs, however, as he began making his way down still wearing his flannel pajamas from the night before.

"Yes well, it's traditional for a Professor to grant new trainers their first pokemon partner before they go on their journey. That is, if you can convince him to." The sound of footsteps inside catches Juniper's attention. An excited, if drowsy, teenager has made his way downstairs rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. What's left over is pure, uninhibited excitement. "Then again, maybe you won't need to persuade him!"

The tall and lean boy finally reaches the door and stands behind his mom, the expression he wore might convince most people that it was actually Christmas. "Ohmigosh! Professor Juniper! Are you here to start me off on my journey?" Juniper could swear that she noticed actual stars in his eyes.

"Why yes, I take it that you're Hilbert?" The Pokemon Professor gave her warmest smile to the boy, who only managed to find even more excitement somewhere. He may as well be burning off pure energy. "I also take it that you've been waiting for this for a long time!"

He calms a bit at that, seemingly realizing just how energetic he had been. Before continuing, he clears his throat. "Yes, I've been looking forward to my Pokemon journey for years now. And, uh, please call me Black?"

Juniper gives a questioning glance at his mother, to which she just shrugs and rolls her eyes. "Teens, you know how they are."

The Professor can't help but chuckle lightly at that. "Well, fair enough then, Black." She retrieves three minimized pokeballs from the bag at her side. Then, stepping backwards a bit, she releases all three pokemon in front of the doorway. Each curiously looked around and then their eyes met Black's.

Black has to carefully consider his options. He looks over Snivy, making note of its typing, size, and whatnot. _Snivy is definitely really cool. And if I remember correctly, they're very fast._

He nods and proceeds to take a good look at the next pokemon, Tepig. The small pig seems to mirror the new trainer's excitement. _Tepig is very capable of taking hits. This one also looks a lot like I feel._ Black laughs to himself, but proceeds to consider his third option.

The Oshawott on the far right didn't seem particularly interested in this situation. Its attention had been toward everything but the trainer in front of it. Black shrugged when he saw this. "Guess he isn't too into me."

"Well, have you made up your mind?" The Pokemon Professor was all smiles. Black couldn't help but feel like she already knew his answer.

"I'm gonna go with this Tepig." Black smiles, and is immediately met with a small fire pig jumping up and slamming into his chest! "Oof!" Was all the boy managed before landing unceremoniously on his butt.

"Tepig! Tepig, tepig, tep!" The energetic pokemon let loose all his excitement at once. He was met with a warm hug from his trainer.

"Would you like to name your new partner, Black?" The pokemon Professor couldn't help but become infected with their sheer joyfulness. "It will make your bond stronger in the long run."

Black had to think about that. _It wouldn't be very good if I wanted to change his name later. What would be the best name for this little guy?_

An awkward silence filled the room as Black stared at the Tepig, apparently lost in his thoughts. Juniper recalled the other two pokemon, and cleared her throat to break the silence. "Well, there's no need to decide right this minute. I'm going to distribute these two to you neighbors, Cheren and Bianca. It might be good for you three to travel together,"

Black looked up, another, almost quantifiable level of excitement showed in his eyes. "Oh man, they're gonna love it! I really hope Bianca gets to go." His face drops a bit. "We know how her dad can be…"

The Professor gave an understanding smile. "I'm sure he can be convinced, one way or another." She replaced the pokeballs in her bag and looked back to Black's mother. "It was a pleasure seeing you." With a glance back at the boy she also says, "and please come by my lab before you go. I have some more things that might help you on your journey there." This si followed by a polite wave before she departs.

Black's mom shuts the door as Juniper leaves. "Wow, my little boy is almost all grown up." Black recoils from the attention.

"I'm definitely not a little boy anymore. I'm gonna go and get cleaned up before I go to the lab. I think I'll head out as early as possible."

His mom smiles at him. "Don't forget to pack a little bit extra of everything, just in case!"

He sarcastically groans. "Okaaaay Mom! Gosh!" The sarcasm continues until his face settles into a smile. "Will do."

* * *

Black's bag had been packed with all of the necessities: sets of clothes, some water bottles, a thermos, extra pair of running shoes, and a map of Unova. It was a couple years out of date, but there shouldn't be a big problem with it. He had spoken with Cheren and Bianca about their journey.

 _I fully expected us to start out together. It's a shame that Cheren is being so competitive about this. But poor Bianca has a lot to deal with herself, so I guess I'll be on my own._

A glance at his belt reminded Black that, however he might have felt, he would never be truly alone again. With that, he set off out his doorway once again.

"Goodbye honey! Be safe!" His mom called from the couch behind him. Black stood in the doorway for a moment for dramatic effect.

Turning halfway to face his mom, Black responds with, "will do Mom. I love you." Then he turns and walks out.

His journey had begun.

On the way out of town, Black sent out his Tepig to join him in their first steps outside of Nuvema Town. "Come on Cinder, we've got some ground to cover!"

"Teeeeh-pig!" He agreed.


	3. Zinsincere

It was pretty miraculous that, up until now, Zinnia had not encountered any wild pokemon on her way to Lilycove. Luck rarely hold up forever, though, as the tall grass in front of her rustled with activity. Glancing around, there seemed to be no way to avoid this conflict short of going back or staking out.

Zinnia did not feel like wasting time. She reluctantly reaches for one of her pokeballs in anticipation of an ambush. Stepping forward causes a twig to snap beneath her sandaled feet, and the rustling in the grass subsequently stops.

Neither presence moved, both expecting the other to yield. Zinnia takes another step forward before..

"Oh shit!" is all Zinnia manages to let out before a Linoone makes a mad dash to scratch her ankles. Aster, who had been standing near Zinnia until now, fled behind the safety of a nearby tree. When the dust settles, Zinnia locks eyes with the Linoone, both creating an unsettling leer. Finally, she tosses her pokeball into the air. "Come on, Goodra!"

An indiscernible shape is formed with the red light of the pokeball and, before long, a gelatinous monster stands between Zinnia and the offending Linoone. "GOOOOOODRUH!" The massive dragon type now looks toward her trainer with the expectation of a command and, somewhere deeper down, an explanation.

"Goodra, use Dragon Pulse!" The command satisfies the dragon and she promptly unleashes a massive pulse upon the poor Linoone. The power is too much for this wild pokemon to handle and it immediately faints.

Zinnia sighs and reaches into her backpack for a sitrus berry to leave with the pokemon for when it awoke. Aster emerges from the treeline again when all seems safe and hugs Zinnia's leg tightly.

Goodra, however, has a much more serious look directed toward her trainer. "Goo?"

Such a simple phrase, but Zinnia knew exactly what the Goodra meant with it. A long silence is held between the two of them before Zinnia relents. A brief sigh escapes her before she begins speaking. "I'm sorry. You all probably hate me right now, and I probably deserve it. I just couldn't face my pokemon when I lost to that kid. They took away my future and my dreams, and it's kinda my fault I guess. I just never-" Zinnia pauses to take a deep breath, and tears threaten to stream down her face. "- I wasn't expecting Rayquaza to side with them. I shouldn't have forced you all to fight him. I should have trusted in the legendary pokemon's judgement. I could have gotten you all seriously hurt. If you all hate me, I'm sorry. And I deserve it."

Zinnia's legs felt unsteady, and tears were now streaming down her face. Goodra promptly rushes to her aid to hold her steady. Her partner offers for Zinnia to sit on her lap for a while. While it surely looked comfortable, the Lorekeeper declines the offer. "I'm fine Goodra. Thank you." The dragon simply smiles.

* * *

Some time passed, and eventually Goodra was recalled into her pokeball. With Aster's moral support, Zinnia finally found the strength and purpose to stand and continue on her way to Lilycove City.

The city was an absolute monster of tourism and trade. Ever since the events leading up to the awakening of the legendary pokemon, Lilycove had been re-imagined by many as a hot spot within Hoenn. The team base for one of those ridiculous organizations- Aqua or Magma, she remembers- had been opened as a major attraction. The streets were crowded as she made her way by the shopping mall, and eventually was forced to carry Aster the rest of the way to the pier so that they didn't get separated. Since she had waited so long on the outskirts of town back on route 121, the sun was just now beginning to set. "I'm running out of time today," Zinnia mumbled to herself.

Eventually, she made her way to a departure zone, with ships seemingly headed toward every region….in the morning. Only a few were left since the day's end approached. Glancing up at a departure/arrival board, Zinnia found that there was one boat headed toward the Unova region in about an hour. The only other boat was in its final stages before departure to Alola, so that was no good. "How does Unova sound, Aster?"

"Wizz-mer," the small pokemon responded, seemingly content with the decision.

Zinnia nodded, more to herself than anything, and a smile grew on her face. Aster noticed, but tried not to make a deal out of it. Instead, the sudden good mood only spread. Well, that is until….

A familiar face had appeared at the ticket stand. A very tall man in what was best described as a questionably practical swimsuit had just left ticket in hand, when he caught Zinnia in his gaze. The golden anchor hanging around his neck bobbed around as his pace quickened to catch up with her.

Zinnia, having noticed the Team Aqua leader making his way toward her, raised her cloak to cover her face a bit and rerouted herself to try and lose him.

As it turns out, just wearing a cloak is enough to make you noticeable in a crowd. Eventually, Archie caught up with the girl. To her back was an impenetrable crowd, and to either side buildings. All Zinnia could do was hope he wasn't hostile.

"You! You look familiar. Where do i know ya from? There's no way I haven't seen ya before!" The crime boss opened the conversation about as eloquently as anyone could have expected of him. "Were you in-" his voice lowered slightly, but still was still basically a yell in the midst of the rancorous crowd- "Aqua?!"

Zinnia responded with a simple shrug and a gesture indicating that she wanted to get on the boat she had decided on earlier.

"Goin' to Unova, eh? I can't blame ya. Very pretty place. Listen, I'm gonna be on the boat too. When I find ya and it's quieter, I want to talk to you. I just KNOW you were a part of mah group." With that, the pirate wannabe wandered back into the crowd behind him, and left Zinnia to her own devices.

A quick glance at Aster showed no particular alarm, aside from the din all around her. With a shrug to herself, she proceeded to head back and get a ticket onto the boat. When she showed her trainer ID, it went from an expensive trip to absolutely free. A smirk appeared on her face. "The perks of working within the law."

After around a half an hour, the boat made its last call for passengers. Zinnia had boarded some time ago, and simply planned on remaining within her room the whole trip. All the estimations she had received for arrival time indicated she'd be sailing for a few days.

She and Aster briefly met each other's gaze. "This would be a terrible time to find out if we were motion sick." A good laugh erupted from the both of them at that, before Zinnia got ready to go to bed.


	4. Accumulating Acquaintances

Black's first steps into Route 1 were somewhat anticlimactic. Ahead of him there was a vast field of unkempt grass, the occasional shake betraying the possibility of it being totally uninhabited.

Undeterred, Cinder practically dashed into the unknown, and immediately tripped and fell over onto his snout. All Black could see was the little Tepig tail poking out a short distance ahead, but the sounds of a distressed pig forced a short fit of laughter before he aided his partner.

"You should be more careful, Cinder. We don't know what's out there...or how well you can balance!" The pokemon mock glared at his trainer before he, too, fell to the humor of the situation.

"Glad to see you made it out of the house," a new voice alerted both trainer and pokemon to the presence of another person nearby. Upon hearing it, both their eyes lit up.

"Professor Juniper! It's good to see you again," Black stood to face the professor while Cinder followed suit. "I hope nothing's wrong," the thought ushered in a brief wave of anxiety for the new trainer.

Juniper simply smiled in response, setting his mind at ease, before pulling a set of pokeballs from her lab coat pockets. "No, actually, I figured you might want these. They'll be very important on your journey if you plan to fill up the pokedex, or make a few new friends on the way." She offered the pokeballs to him.

"Oh, sweet!" The teen couldn't help a bit of giddiness as he set the balls into his bag for future use. "One question though, how do I actually use pokeballs?"

"Funny you should ask," began the professor. "I came out here to show you and your friends just that. I expected you all to be together for the first leg, but I suppose that isn't the case. Cheren came through half an hour ago. As you might expect, he didn't need much of an explanation. He has real potential, that one," the professor began to trail off before focusing once more. "But I digress. Anyway, I'll give you a quick run-down…."

A short while and solid example later, Black felt he had a good idea as to when he should use a pokeball to capture a pokemon.

"Do you know when Bianca will be here? I don't imagine she'll be especially punctual for her pokemon journey, either." The pokemon professor had a point. Bianca was infamous for always being late, despite how rushed she tended to be. Some poor guy would probably get bumped into fountains and waterways for months on end if he chose to travel with her, and they still might never be on time for anything.

"I'm sorry, I have no idea professor. Her dad didn't seem too keen on the whole 'journey' idea. It'll be a bit of a miracle if she actually gets his permission to go." Black could only shrug as he offered the bad news.

"Indeed. I suppose I will have to give them a little push before she gets her lesson then." She points off toward the north before continuing. "Accumula Town is that way, just straight ahead a ways. I expect that next time we meet, you will have at least one more friend with you. Now go get 'em!" The professor turned back toward Nuvema Town, to the south. "Good luck out there, and be safe!"

Black nodded as she left. Turning back to Cinder, he couldn't help but notice the small pokemon was consistently stuck within the tall grass. "Alright, bud, I'll keep you in your pokeball unless something comes up for now. Wouldn't want you all tired when we find our first pokemon encountered, alright?"

Cinder sighed and allowed his trainer to store him for now. "Piiiig…"

Black set the pokeball into one of his bag's pockets before continuing north, as per Juniper's recommendation.

* * *

Nearly a half an hour has passed before grass nearby Black shakes suspiciously. He instantly reached for the pokeball containing Cinder before a lillipup leapt from cover to initiate the encounter.

The small dog, while certainly not intimidating by way of looks or sound, still managed to set the new trainer on edge. After fumbling with his pokeball for a moment, Black released Cinder to defend them from this wild pokemon. He refers to the pokedex before deciding upon a course of action.

"Alright Cinder, give that thing a solid tackle attack!" The command is heard and the tepig was off like a rocket. With speed which caught the wild pokemon off-guard, Cinder barreled into the lillipup with the force of a wrecking ball. Down, but not out, the waylayer regained her footing before launching a counterattack of small bites and nips all along Cinder's flank.

"Come on Cinder, finish it off with another tackle!" Again, the pig took off with amazing speed and knocked the pup onto its side, this time seemingly much more significantly injured.

"Alright, let's try this thing out," the trainer began, expanding a pokeball to its full size. "Go, pokeball!" He threw the ball, catching the heavily breathing pokemon right on the top of the head. A flash of light, and the pokemon is gone. Only a small, shaking ball remaining in its place.

After a few moments, the shaking stopped, followed by a chime.

"Yes! We caught the lillipup!" The teen instantly opened his pokedex for lillipup to get a better idea of her moves and age.

A robotic voice sounds from the device. "This lillipup is female, approximately level four, and knows the moves tackle and bite. Would you like to give this pokemon a nickname?"

The teen considered for a moment, before deciding to think on the matter. In the distance, he spotted the light of street lamps. "We must be near Accumula Town, Cinder. I think you can walk the rest of the way."

"Tepiiig!" The pokemon confirmed enthusiastically.

* * *

It didn't take long for Black to push his way through the remaining grass and arrive in Accumula Town. Save for the lillipup, there hadn't been much in the way of delays since he left Nuvema. Despite this, however, the sun was setting over the Accumula hillside.

"Well, that's what I get for waiting on Bianca so long. Come on, Cinder. We should get to the Pokemon Center before it gets too dark."

In some ways, the town seemed to be as densely packed as the average city. In many other ways, the overall aesthetic and lack of so many pedestrians made the place feel a bit less populous. Depending on where one entered the town, it might appear incredibly large. From the south entrance, however, there were merely a few houses and apartment buildings and a Pokemon Center. Interestingly, there seemed to be some form of demonstration just across the road. Black lined up with the other spectators as an elderly man with a strange eyepiece began his speech, surrounded by people in strange outfits reminiscent of knights.

 _"My name is Ghetsis. I am here representing Team Plasma. Today, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to talk to you about Pokémon liberation,"_ the man's speech continued to drone on. Black had honestly already found himself bored. The best he could figure was that the man thought humans mistreated their pokemon as a whole and should release them.

"That seems a little ridiculous," he muttered to himself before turning to head toward the pokemon center. "I'm sure he'll finish without me."

Before he could cross the street however, Black was confronted with another person with long, green hair and a black and white baseball cap. He seemed a somewhat well-dressed, considering the lack of any real occasion. "You dismiss the ideals of Ghetsis quickly. Why is that?"

Black, caught somewhat off-guard, offered his weak response. "I, uh, just think that it's harsh to judge the actions of every trainer on those of a few. You know? I only just started my journey, but I certainly intend to keep my pokemon out of harm's way as much as possible." Black shrugged, and attempted to end the conversation by walking past the boy in front of him.

He blocked the way further. "Journey? So you're a new trainer? Intending to battle with your pokemon? How is that out of harm's way?"

Black sighed in mild exasperation. "Look, uhh-"

"You may call me N."

"- Right, N. I'd like to at least be on my journey for a few days before I decide on whether some cult has the right idea about pokemon, alright? I have a lillipup that could use some medical attention and I'd like to get her healed up before I head out in the morning."

N, the taller of the boys, seemed to look at Black with curiosity. Seeming to take note of his every breath or uncomfortable shift. "What is your name?"

Black couldn't help taking a slight gulp before answering to this intimidating kid. "I, uh, go by Black."

N seemed unimpressed by the nickname, but shrugged it off in a few moments. "I imagine we will meet again. Please, make sure your friend gets the treatment she deserves. I think I will be on my way." With that, he turned toward the crowd and was promptly lost in its midst.

Black, after a moment of befuddled immobility, finally shrugged before turning, crossing the street, and entering the Pokemon Center. It was here he arranged resting overnight with Nurse Joy.


	5. Lost and Found

The dim morning light cast a spot of pure brightness into the face a sleeping Zinnia. Aster wandered around the small room, glancing at objects and playing with them momentarily before moving on to the next one. The sleeping form rolled over to turn away from the light.

The excruciatingly bored Whismur eventually recognized the morning light as her sign to awaken her trainer. Turning away from whatever she had been toying with a moment before, she leapt up onto the bed provided to them with surprising momentum, considering her size. The appendages on her head flexed so as to cover the pokemon's sensitive ears before using screech to awaken the lorekeeper.

"Ah, fuck! Stop it! I'm up! Aster I swear to Rayquaza I'm gonna…" She trailed off as she threw off her blanket and turned to throw both hands instinctively to the appendages covering Aster's ears. This, in turn, forced the sensitive pokemon to stop screeching.

A few moments and a sigh from Zinnia later, she released her hold onto the pokemon. "Thanks for getting me up, Aster. As usual, sorry for grabbing your muffs." Zinnia stretched briefly before allowing a massive yawn to escape her. "Man, I haven't slept on a bed in a while." The ship had a few sets of clothes inside each room which were complimentary. She had been wearing a striped flannel-style set of pajamas to bed, but she stood and quickly grabbed her old gear from the floor at the foot of the bed. "Well we've been on this stinkin' boat for a day now. I think this is as good a time as any to see if there's anything fun to do here. I'm sure you'd agree, Aster."

"Wizz-mur," She agreed, allowing Zinnia to get changed and waiting patiently at the door.

* * *

As it turns out, there was a recreational area on the ship. One of the crew had informed her that near the bow of the ship there was an arcade and a swimming pool, among other things. So she had gone to the bow of the ship, wobbling slightly when the ship shook or turned unexpectedly, and took a good look around.

This was easily the most crowded part of the ship she had seen. Children of all ages dominated the arcade area, some adults included. The sound of 16-bit music followed her around as she took a look into the pokemon day care. There were certainly excited pokemon aplenty inside, but the scene didn't really fit Aster too well, in her experience. While the ship had swimsuits for everyone to use in the pool, neither of the duo found that idea very attractive.

Aster ended up finding a beach ball, which she bounced and followed around excitedly and out of Zinnia's view.

"Be careful Aster! Come right back here when you're done," she shouted into the crowd. _I sure hope she caught that_. The slightest smile made its way onto her face before she began looking back around.

Eventually, Zinnia settled on sitting over by the 'tiki-bar,' if it could even be called that. It certainly tried to capture the Alola aesthetic, but the ship around it broke the illusion rather quickly. Regardless, upon taking a seat, the man behind the counter asked if she wanted anything to drink or some bar food.

"Uh, yeah sure. Some peanuts and, uh," she paused for a quick glance at the menu. "Arnold Palmer, please."

"Coming right up."

For a few seconds, she had time to consider where the name "Arnold Palmer" had even come from. Her thoughts, however, were quickly interrupted by a large man in an emblazoned wet suit and a blue bandana taking the seat next to her.

"Get me a Mai Tai, please."

"Certainly! Just one moment," came the answer from behind the counter.

The anchor around the man's neck shook as he turned to look at Zinnia, who seemed to be quite interested in one particular crack in the countertop. "So, you finally lookin' for somethin' to do? Didn't catch ya at all yesterday."

Zinnia put on her best 'glad to see you' expression before thinking of a response. "Yeah, I guess I just got bored in that little room. Aster couldn't wait to get out of there."

Archie nodded along to her truthful response. "Yeah, fair 'nuff. Hey! I wanted to ask you about somethin.' You were in Aqua, right?"

It took some force to keep from grimacing. "Yeah, yeah! Good times back on Team Aqua! Man, we got close there at the end, didn't we?"

Archie's perpetually excited expression dropped into one of mixed feeling. "Yeah, we really did. We awoke Kyogre and all, but that kid. Man, they were something else. I guess it was for the best. The Aqua labs did **not** give those rainstorms justice."

 _That kid again…_

"But anyway!" Archie interrupted her train of thought. "I just kinda wanna know," his expression turned serious. "How did you infiltrate Team Aqua?"

Zinnia shifted slightly on her seat, unsure how to respond. She welcomed the distraction that came in the form of peanuts and drinks. Eventually, however, the barkeep had other customers to attend to.

"Silent treatment, eh? I knew pretty much since that grunt in Petalburg failed his mission. The one I sent you to assist. He claimed that you disappeared just before he got into the woods. Didn't hear from ya fer a few days after. Then there ya were when that mess with the meteorite happened." He took a sip of his mai tai before leaning closer to Zinnia. "Why did you hide within my organization. And with that information, what did. You. Do?" The usual carefree demeanor Archie put on was now almost entirely gone as his newfound serious side took hold.

A few moments and a defeated sigh later, Zinnia began. "Careful, you're starting to sound like that prick from Magma. Max? Maxine? Whatever his name was."

"I joined Aqua because I caught wind of your plans to awaken the legendary pokemon, Kyogre. Same story with Magma but for Groudon. At the end of the day, you ended up with more success and that just led to phase two of my overall plan. In some alternate universe, Magma was probably more important to my plans than you guys. In this case, though, I just needed to make sure you succeeded."

The girl in front of Archie couldn't have been older than seventeen, and yet she spoke with such confidence. "Such a calculated plan, to help the 'evil' teams of Hoenn with their own? Why?"

"I told you why I infiltrated Aqua, isn't that enough to satisfy you?" Her peanuts and drink had thus far been untouched. The condensation on the glass was immensely fascinating for her gaze.

Finally, Archie broke this new silence. "How did you know about the meteor?"

"Honestly, it's a really long story that's easiest to explain at the Sky Pillar. But I won't be explaining it. Sorry." Finally, Zinnia allowed herself to partake in the snack and beverage she ordered.

"Fine, fair enough I guess."

Zinnia finally allowed herself to look at the Aqua leader. "Well, I told you what you came for. What now?"

"I dunno." His gaze was now turned straightforward as he stared into space. "I guess I have words for Maxie. I suppose I enjoy the cruise and go back to Hoenn. Work on rebuilding Team Aqua for another, better purpose."

A long silence is held between the two, before a ship wide announcement requests the trainer of a Whismur to come and retrieve their pokemon.

With a sigh, Zinnia downed the rest of her Arnold Palmer and offered the remainder of her peanuts to Archie. "I guess I gotta run."

With a small salute, he acknowledged the statement and reached for some peanuts.

* * *

It took some time for Zinnia to figure out where she needed to go to find her pokemon, and in that time she had begun to shake a bit. Her breathing had noticeably quickened and a heart rate monitor would show a plateau of accelerated beating.

"What kind of trouble did you get into, Aster?"

Eventually, she found a customer service office among administration section of the ship. As soon as she entered, there was the sound of Aster's crying. Granted, it was incredibly well-muted. The best assumption Zinnia had was that the ship was well soundproofed.

Various people in the crew's uniform were wandering around, a few inquiring into the source of the noise. At the front desk, a sign above it labelled 'HELP,' a woman was sorting documents while answering questions and concerns regarding the noise. Based on her demeanor, this was probably par for the course on this ship.

"Excuse me," Zinnia began as she made her way past a few crew members and patrons to the desk. "I heard that a Whismur was found wandering around, and I think she might belong to me." Her blood was still pounding from her concern and the resulting heat had some sweat rolling down her nose.

"Oh! Yes, please take a look. I think if it is your Whismur, everyone here will be all the happier." The lady smiled at Zinnia and stood, motioning for her to follow. "It's right down here…"

The long hallway, which honestly wasn't so long but Zinnia couldn't help but feel a bit exhausted from the walk, was lined with doors on both sides with various labels. Finally, they reached a door labelled 'Lost Pokemon.' Here, the noise was noticeably louder than in the lobby.

With her voice raised, the woman asked Zinnia to quickly come to her decision so as to minimize disruption to the rest of the crew. Zinnia confirmed her understanding with a nod, and quickly rushed into the room, her anxiety at its peak.

* * *

The room that those people had taken Aster to was decorated with wallpaper showing rolling, green hills and a big, smiling sun. In various corners of the room, there were toy boxes which had been thrown over some time ago, yet to be reorganized. In the very center of the room stood a loud, shivering Whismur, crying out for her trainer to save her from this scary place.

From what she could remember, she had been playing with a beach ball for a good long time before some man in a grey hood and weird outfit threw the ball overboard and laughed at her. What happened next was a blur in Aster's memory. She vaguely recalled a woman with a similar, strange getup which suggested to the man that they leave her in the 'lost and found.' The man was adamant in taking her and leaving her somewhere else, though. 'Away from trainers,' was what he had said.

She remembered feeling scared at that prospect, and that's when she had begun crying out for Zinnia. The two then agreed the lost and found was a good idea and, well, here she was.

It had been nearly a half hour since then, and finally the door opened and Aster could finally cease her shrill screech.

"Aster! Oh there you are! I was so scared for you." Zinnia practically ran into the room upon seeing her and swiftly took the pokemon into her embrace. "Don't scare me like that! I can't lose you…."

"Not again…"


	6. Author's Note 1

**This will just be a brief Author's Note chapter, feel free to skip if you don't care too much.**

 **I'll probably do these every few chapters, as opposed to a paragraph in the beginning of every chapter.**

 **First of all, thank you Rayquaza1000 for the first review on this story. I'm glad you enjoy it so far, and I do plan on making every main pokemon's personality differ from the others, and I hope I do them justice.**

 **Secondly, I want to talk a little bit about the story itself. I want to loosely follow the storyline of Black and White in game, with a few main differences. One of them is the inclusion of Zinnia. That'll change a lot of events. On that note, this is planned to be a complex storyline. A long one. I'm not sure how long, but probably a few dozen chapters. I'm also ignoring the established timelines for the games. Mega evolution has not reached Unova yet, but that may change at some point.**

 **Right now, I'm writing a sort of extended prologue. The main story will begin when Zinnia and Black meet. Of course, there will be some important events between now and then.**

 **Another thing, I really hate the name 'Hilbert.' And I didn't want to just name one of two main characters after myself or soemthing, so that's why I'm calling him Black. It fits, so whatever. Plus, it also adds a bit to his personality.**

 **Black and his friends are around 16 years old, Zinnia is just a bit older than them. I'll talk more about those differences once the main story is in swing. I chose their ages because, let's be real, anything younger is just dangerous in the pokemon world.**

 **Speaking of, I'm not going to go too hardcore into pokemon battles. They will occasionally get seriously injured, but I won't be getting gory with anything. That's just not my thing. I will consider wild pokemon to generally be exempt from these rules, and in some ways more dangerous than trainer pokemon, but still nothing too dark.**

 **So, yeah. I think that's more or less all I wanted to say about this one. Sorry about the delay on chapter 5, life kinda snuck up on me. Generally I'll have a chapter and a half done a week, but this last week was busier than usual.**

 **Anyway, please enjoy the rest of the story! Please consider reviewing the story as well, outlining things you liked or maybe didn't like so much. Every opinion will be considered! If you want an OC to be included for future battles, rather than using generic trainers, I can try and arrange that as well. Just nothing too powerful, for now. Just leave it in a review or something, and I'll see if I can add them in.**

 **I'll talk to you guys later!**


	7. Lass Mali

**A/N: I know I said I'd keep these to designated chapters, but this seems like a good time. When was the last update? Like, 6 weeks ago? Yeah, sorry about that. Life kinda crept up on me, and I wasn't sure how I wanted to write route 2 for a long time. Honestly, I feel like I took a lazy way out, but whatever moves the story along. I'm feeling the creative juices again, so hopefully there shouldn't be too many more delays like that one. Enjoy~**

Black was roused from his restful night in the Pokemon Center by the opening rush. He, along with a few other scattered trainers, had been resting on restaurant-booth-styled couches which served as a place to sit while awaiting your pokemons' treatment or, apparently, for trainers to sleep overnight. It seemed sensible enough for most people.

The sun had just broken the horizon and shone through the eastern window of the pokemon center, coincidentally casting its glare just across Black's tightly closed eyes. The hubbub of the first several patrons in the morning serving to fully awaken all but the heaviest of sleepers in the room.

Picking himself up with a contagious yawn and refreshing stretch, Black proceeded to stand and wander toward Nurse Joy's desk, almost on the other side of the room. His minorly off-balance gait indicating his drowsiness to anyone around him. He waited patiently in the moderately-sized line for his turn to speak with Joy. All the while, he slowly became more aware of his surroundings while he blinked the sleep away and stretched a bit more.

The people in the center this morning seemed battered, many appearing in clothing which was badly torn or worn even by trainer standards.

 _Something's going on, I guess._ Black attempted to listen to the conversations around him, despite his largely unfocused demeanor.

"...they had some sort of grey hoods. Looked kind of like knights or something. I think they were gonna steal my pokemon!"

"...Called themselves Team Plasma I think. Said something about 'pokemon liberation.' I dunno what any of it really meant, but they put up a fight."

The conversations around him sowed a new concern in the back of Black's mind. _Team Plasma were those guys from last night, weren't they?_

"Next, please!" Finally, his turn to see her came. "Oh, yes, you stayed overnight right? I'll go get your lillipup for you! She recovered just fine." Nurse Joy forced a smile before turning from the counter and heading into a room to the side to retrieve his pokemon. Black stood somewhat awkwardly in front of the counter for a few moments until Joy returned. "Here she is, good as new."

Black retrieved his pokeball from her outstretched arm with a simple "thank you."

"Where are you off to, if you don't mind my asking?"

Black considered the question for a moment before allowing himself to shrug with no real answer. "I'm not really sure. This whole 'journey' was a bit of a last-minute decision. You see trainers a lot, do you have any suggestions?"

Nurse Joy, undoubtedly ready to give her suggestions whether he had outright asked or not, reached within a drawer somewhere behind her desk and placed a town map so that Black could clearly see it on the countertop. "Well, most trainers want to try and challenge all the gyms they come across on their journey. It helps them to gauge how much they've grown through their travels. We happen to have a decent beginner gym in Striaton City, and you only need to cross Route 102 to get there. I strongly recommend going that way." Her usual smile died a bit as she traced along the opposite side of town, following another route. "Of course, if you'd rather travel to the East, there are some interesting places as well. I would strongly advise against it, however. Word is, a mysterious organization called 'Team Plasma' has been trying to steal people's' pokemon that way. Hopefully, that situation can defuse itself in time."

Nodding his understanding, Black decided. "Alright then, I'll go along Route 2 to the West. To Striaton, right? The idea of a gym seems pretty cool."

Nurse Joy's warm smile returned with his confirmation. "Yes, they gym leaders there are very understanding of newer trainers. While you're there, perhaps you should visit the trainer school as well? There are a few short books there which might help you out on your journey." She reached into a pocket in her apron and removed a pen, which she marked the route along the way to his destination. "Please hold onto this map, if you don't already have one. It should show every route trainers frequent all the way to the Northern end of Unova."

Black accepted the map and carefully folded it before placing it into his backpack. "Thanks, Nurse Joy! I'm sure I'll be using it a lot." He gave a slight wave before he turned to head out. "Have a nice day!"

"You too! Next, please." Is the last he heard before the automatic door slid closed behind him.

* * *

Accumula Town was significantly busier than when Black had arrived the night before. Groups of people were travelling toward a marketplace back by where he had entered, while others still were simply enjoying a stroll in the nice, sunny day which had befallen them. Black was, in no particular rush, wandering in the general direction of Route 2.

The only real stop Black made along the way was to investigate a surprising police presence. They seemed to have barricaded the Eastern exit from town and were turning people away, warning them of 'pokemon thieves' and the like.

 _Man, I wish I could have helped out with that._ His guilt was reconsidered when he determined that he could return in time. _Maybe when I'm stronger, I can help people in this situation._

Eventually, Black turned away from the concerning scene before him. He now approached the entrance of Route 2 with a new resolve.

* * *

"No! Purrloin!"

Black called back his lillipup, whose valiant efforts in their battle had not gone to waste. "That was a good job there. I see I caught the best of the whole bunch, eh?" Despite her clear apprehension with the situation, Lillipup did allow Black to praise her with affectionate petting and an oran berry. "You keep that up, and Cheren won't stand a chance when we battle him!"

Meanwhile, the girl before them recalled her pokemon. "Well, you did your best Purrloin. Sleep tight." She then stood, dusted grass off her skirt, and stepped toward black. "Wow, your Lillipup is strong! You said you just caught her yesterday?"

Black gave Lillipup one last round of ear-scratching before recalling his own pokemon and responding. "Yeah, she jumped out at me just before I got into town last night. That was a fun battle, do you mind if I ask you your name?" The question, while innocent enough, caught the girl off guard. In a brief moment of embarrassment, she scratched the back of her neck and straightened out her skirt.

"My name is Mali. I'm a bit new to pokemon battling, but I hope I can improve and eventually go on a pokemon journey." She extended her hand to the victor. "And what about you? What's your name?"

He offered a nervous chuckle and accepted the handshake. "Well, I go by Black-"

Mali snorted before erupting into a series of giggles. "I'm-" more giggling ensues. "I'm sorry that's just so...so edgy!" After a few moments she regained her composure and flung a series of apologies.

Black grinned in response. "Yeah, yeah I get that a lot. I really should think of a new nickname, but, I don't know. It just feels like a good name, you know?" He glanced at the clear sky, the sun just passing its peak. "I think I have to get going. Do you know how to get through this route? I'm trying to get to Striaton City to challenge the gym."

"Oh! You're going for gym badges? Well, I can see that adorable little Lillipup of yours is going to be a big help then. Actually…" she turned and began walking in the direction Black had been heading. "...I live in Striaton, so I can show you the way!" Facing away from Black, he didn't see the slight blush the crept onto her face.

His own eyes lit up at the convenience. "Oh, really? That'd be awesome!" He jogged for a bit to catch up to his new guide. "You know, you're pretty cool. I kind of had a bad feeling about this journey after that mess with….Team Plasma, was it? Glad to see that not everyone's messing stuff up out here."

She glanced at her follower with a certain curiosity. "Team Plasma? Is that the group that's been stealing pokemon, according to the news? I didn't realize they were causing problems this far south."

Black returned the curiosity. "Are you saying they're more active up north? Man, those guys are just going to make this journey hell, aren't they?"

The two continued to make idle conversation. By the time an hour passed, neither had even realized they'd been walking very long. Both finally realized just how much time had passed when some tall, rectangular buildings began to emerge over the surrounding treetops.

Mali stopped and pointed forward. "I have a friend I need to meet over here still, but just keep heading straight and you'll reach the city. If you see my mom, she might give you one of those monkey pokemon. She has a habit of catching all of them she sees."

Black made mental notes of the information. "Alright, that all sounds good. Thanks for your help, you probably saved me a lot of time." The two teens exchanged warm smiles and waved each other goodbye, before parting ways.

 _Was she into me? I totally should have asked if she had an Xtransceiver._ Black sighed upon his realization, but shrugged to no one in particular. _Too late now._

Just as the road came into view ahead of him, Black noticed the sound of someone yelling behind him.

" **BLAAAACK!"** Just as soon as he turned to check it out, someone barreled right into him!

"Bianca?!" The figure was unmistakable once he got a good look at her from the ground. "What's the big idea?!"

"Ohmigosh I'msorrysorrysosorry I didn't mean to run right into you like that! I was trying to catch up to you and Cheren and I gotloastin AccumulaandthenJoytoldme thereweresome newtrainersgoingthiswayand-"

Black raised his hand in a 'stop' sign, which quickly helped Bianca to realize and end her explanation. He stood, dusted himself off, and took a breath before responding. "It's fine, Bianca, just slow down alright?" He paused, and caught a glance at a pokeball in her hand. "You convinced your dad to let you go on a journey? I'm impressed."

A look of shame then came over the normally cheery girl before Black. "Well….not exactly. Y'see, when Juniper came to my house he wasn't home. So I guess I kinda just, went without telling him? Omigosh does that make me a bad person? Is he gonna be mad at me? Oh no! Whatifhecallsthepoliceandthen theycatchmeandarrestmeforrunning awayand-" Her demeanor is further betrayed by her biting her nails as she went on. Eventually, Black raised the stop sign again.

"Well, you made it this far, I suppose there's no point in going back now. Want to see if there's anything in the trainer school? I heard there was stuff worth looking into there." Black turned to continue walking, nearly meeting the road ahead when Bianca piped up.

"Actually I….I wanted to-um...how do I ask this?" Black stopped and turned to face her once more. A few moments passed before she swallowed her anxiety and continued.

"I actually wanted to have a battle!"


	8. A Real Wiz Kid

Zinnia had spent the last day and a half lounging around inside her complimentary room within the ship. Despite her boredom, the idea of going out to the deck made her feel somewhat nauseous. Aster had fallen asleep not long ago after kicking a pillow around for the better part of an hour.

Zinnia herself had taken to examining her keystone, laid into a coiled dragon to wear around one's arm or leg. It was made of stone, so going without it for a while was not unheard of for the trainer. Now, however, she considered a more drastic decision.

"Do I even need this thing anymore? I dropped off the salamencite with grannie." The idea bounced around in her head a while longer. "I don't want to ditch this thing, but I don't really have anywhere to keep it around here."

After a period of pondering, she carefully laid it down beside her and turned to look out the starboard window in response to a bright light shining through. Moments later, Zinnia stood and stretched beside her bed, and stepped over to where Aster was sound asleep. Leaning over, she picked aster up and carried the drowsy pokemon to the window for her chance to see the view.

"Psst, Aster. You should see this."

The sensitive pokemon was roused by the whisper and greeted by the surprisingly bright lights before her. A grid of yellow and white stood amongst the black silhouettes of outrageously tall and numerous buildings. Lilycove may have been comparable in verticality, but in building density it had nothing compared to the city she saw before her. "Wizzz, mur," the pokemon silently exclaimed.

* * *

Within hours, the boat had gone through its docking procedures and passengers began to file out into the overwhelming city before them. Some seemed accustomed to the view but others, like Zinnia and Aster, were blown away by the scale of the buildings and the incredibly bright streets in the late evening. Where most would expect the streets to be dim, there were street lights on every corner, more or less every hundred meters along the road, and all up the rectangular shadows of buildings.

The light and scale of the town became less fascinating, however, when Zinnia felt the cold air blow past her. Goosebumps formed nearly instantly, forcing her to figure out what to do about accommodations for the night. "I'm not dressed for this, Aster." She couldn't help but giggle at the thought of her, the Lorekeeper, being unprepared for a little cold weather.

Aster seemed to mirror this sentiment with her own laughter, loud enough to turn a couple heads momentarily in the busy street. Before long, she spotted a pokemon center a block or so down the street from the duo. "Ast- Aster!"

As if she understood exactly what the Whismur said, Zinnia's head turned to catch the well-lit and red sign indicating a pokemon center. "Good catch, dear. Let's see if they have any room over there, we'll get a better look at the city tomorrow."

It took a few minutes, despite the short distance, for Zinnia to push past the crowds of people walking in both directions along the road. Despite it being evening hours, there seemed to be no shortage of activity anywhere in the city. Eventually, however, Zinnia managed to walk past the automatic doors of the local pokemon center, where she was instantly met with the warm inside air.

Inside had its fair share of traffic as well. Nurse Joy was dutifully attending to nearly a dozen trainers and their pokemon, and directing others to sit down or rest in a room near the back. Despite the length of the line, Zinnia found herself being attended to rather quickly by one of the strange, new pokemon of the region.

"Audino! Audin." The pokemon called to her, offering a clipboard and pencil to the trainer standing in line. Zinnia accepted the objects and looked over the paper. There were bubbles and boxes for her to fill out and near the top, a message.

 _"In order to best attend to your needs quickly and effectively, please fill out the information on this sheet to the best of your ability, and we'll get to you as soon as possible!"_

"Fair enough," Zinnia muttered as she raised the pencil to fill in a few bubbles. "We'll need some rest… I suppose a check-up couldn't hurt...Check this box… that one...alright, good." She turned to the Audino, who offered to take the clipboard and pencil back, and handed it to the pokemon.

"Audino~!" It repeated in a sing-song voice, before returning to Joy's desk and placing her form on a small stack.

"Well, I guess this will be a little bit, Aster. Why don't you go sit down?"

Aster responded with a nod, and wandered over to a nearby booth. It took her some time to climb up, but she eventually sat down and awaited further instruction from Zinnia.

* * *

A high-pitched beeping noise awoke Zinnia and Aster from their slumber in one of the many rooms near the back of the pokemon center. The nurse had sent them here as well as taking the other five pokeballs to be examined overnight. Zinnia sat up and stretched, glancing over to the other two trainers who had shared the room with her. Neither seemed to be morning people, based on their shared attempts to remain asleep. Zinnia hit the snooze button to let them have some more rest, and proceeded to dust herself off and replace the keystone around her leg.

"Come on, Aster. We should go get the other pokemon and head out," she whispered so as not to disturb the others.

"Wiz," came the response, as the pokemon waddled over to the door.

The walk back to the main room offered an interesting view of Nurse Joy and some Audinos treating the more minor pokemon injuries with simple potions and, interestingly, what appeared to be cans of lemonade.

 _Probably just a comfort thing,_ Zinnia reasoned.

Finally, she arrived to the front desk. The center had not formally opened for the day yet, and as such Zinnia had to ring a bell on the counter before Joy would arrive. It was unsettlingly empty after the bustle of the night before. Aster took her chance to check out some corners of the room which had been completely blocked by people before.

"Oop- Just a second, please!" Came the ever-soothing voice of Nurse Joy.

"No problem, I've got alllllll the time in the world," Zinnia responded just above her normal volume, so the nurse could hear her down the hall.

A few moments later, Nurse Joy arrived and maneuvered her way behind the pokemon center counter. She took a brief moment to stretch and yawn, bashfully covering her mouth in the process. "My apologies, usually trainers staying overnight don't get up for the first alarm. I'm still waking up myself. Anyway, how may I help you?"

Zinnia smiled somewhat awkwardly. "Yeah, I know a little lazy butt who doesn't always get up the first time myself." She looked back to Aster, who had taken considerable interest in the pokeball pattern in the center of the main room. "Anyway, I left some pokemon for a check-up overnight. Name's Zinnia."

Joy checked some papers on the counter and pulled out the sheet Zinnia had filled out the night before. "Ah, yes. You had the five dragon pokemon, correct? They should be right here…" She slid open a drawer behind the desk and retrieved the five pokeballs lumped together, marked with a big letter Z. "These are yours, then. All of your pokemon are physically very healthy. They did seem a bit lonely, however. If you don't mind, I would recommend having them out of their pokeballs more frequently! It takes a lot of social activity to keep them properly stimulated." Her critique was broken up with a warm, sincere smile.

Zinnia, however, dropped slightly at the recommendation. "Yeah, you're right. I've just been kinda busy. I'll be sure to let them out more often, thanks."

Nurse Joy carefully placed the balls in front of the trainer before her. "Then that will be all? Please come again, then! If I might suggest, since you seem new in town, you should try a Casteliacone! They're some of the best treats available in the Unova region!"

Zinnia nodded and thought about the suggestion a moment. "Maybe I will. Thaaaaaank you~!" She proceeded to turn and head toward the automatic door to leave the pokemon center. "C'mon Aster, dear. Wouldn't want to lose you again!"

"Have a nice day!"

* * *

Zinnia had spent hours walking around the city. In this time, she had tried a casteliacone with Aster, taken a look at some of the local Gym Leader's art, and had some coffee at the Cafe Sonata. All in all, it had been a pretty fulfilling day for the trainer, but the entire time she couldn't shake the feeling that something seemed off.

"I'm not crazy, right Aster? I know we haven't been here long, but for such a big city everything seems really tense. Even the kids are warily watching around them. Maybe we should ask if something's going on?" Zinnia's out loud thinking caught the attention of a tall man with somewhat crazy brown hair, and wearing what could only be described as a fashion disaster of pink and green.

"Are you new around here? Glad to see you're enjoying this fine city. My name's Burgh, I'm the gym leader. You were saying you wanted to ask around about something? Maybe I can help." The walking eyesore made his approach very casually, as if greeting tourists was something he did quite frequently.

"Wizz-mer!" Aster jumped upon hearing the newcomer and timidly stood behind Zinnia's leg.

The lorekeeper, however, practically lit up upon meeting the gym leader. "Oh heeeeeeey, I just checked out some of the art in your gym a while ago. Pretty cool stuff, though I prefer more dramatic pieces, personally." She paused a moment, allowing Burgh to thank her for the compliment, before continuing. "Actually, yes. I don't frequent big cities or anything, but the air here seems really tense. Is something going on?"

He sighed in response. "Yeah. There's this gang running around stealing pokemon in order to 'liberate' them from their trainers. It sounds like a bunch of nonsense, but evidently they have enough support to run operations all over the region. Team Plasma, they call themselves."

Aster perked up at the name. She was pretty sure the hooded people had said something about Team Plasma when they were taking her to the lost and found. "Wizz-mer," she yelled out to Zinnia.

Both people jumped, joined by a couple random passerby, at the sudden outburst. Upon seeing the pokemon, most people just laughed it off and continued walking. Burgh proceeded to stare at the walking megaphone with a certain interest.

Zinnia immediately grabbed Aster and held her up to speak with her. "What's up, dear? Do you know about Team Plasma or something? Seems silly, but who knows?"

Aster responded with a nod and did her best to mime out what they looked like.

"I...have no idea what you're doing, Aster." Zinnia was perplexed by the actions, but Burgh managed to get the gist of it.

"I believe your pokemon is trying to show you what they look like. Most of Plasma wear hoods and some sort of tabard with the Team Plasma logo. They look a bit like medieval knights, if you ask me."

Aster frantically nodded as the gym leader spoke, which Zinnia interpreted to mean that he had it right.

"Well, I guess it would be worth checking them out, then." An idea had already formed in her mind, one which had worked quite well in the past.

"As the gym leader, I can't recommend that. However, you have a certain gait, and understanding of your pokemon, and a few extra pokeballs at your waist. I think that you would make a fine disruption to Plasma operations. If you don't mind, I would like to hear your plan, if you have one. I might be able to help…"


	9. Double Trouble

It hadn't taken the two very long to draw their imaginary battle lines.

"Full disclosure, I've already caught a lillipup. Do you want to go for one-on-one, or do you have another pokemon too?" In the interest of a reasonably fair fight, Black probed a bit more than he would've liked. "I like surprises as much as the next guy, but I wouldn't want our first battle to be unfair."

Bianca wasted no time in responding. "Actually, I have a lillipup too! Oh man, I wouldn't want either of our pokemon to get confused. What should we do? Oh no, what iftheymistakeourcommandsandsomeonegetsseriouslyhurtohno-"  
Black instinctively raised his hand when her nervousness manifested. "It's fine, I suppose it's about time I came up with a nickname anyway." He tossed out his pokeball, releasing his lillipup into the world. He proceeded to gently pet her. She tensed up, but relaxed after a few moments. "Is it alright if, from now on, I just call you Lily? I guess it fits."

The pokemon tilted her head in response, uncertain as to the actual meaning behind referring to her as something other than her species. After a few moments, she simply smiled and barked in response. "Pup!"

Black chuckled at that. "I don't think she gets it, but if it's fine with her then I'll go along with it." He turned and settled his gaze on Bianca once more. "Alright. I'll lead with Lily. Feel free to send out one of your pokemon."

Bianca smiled so wide, simply viewing it made Black's mouth ache slightly. As she reached for one of her pokeballs, however, she hesitated. Despite her goofy exterior, there was no doubt she was strongly reconsidering her first choice. After a few moments, she did eventually settle on a selection.

"Come on out, Snivy!" After tossing her pokeball, it split open in the height of its flight. In a brilliant flash of red light, a pokemon which resembled a snake appeared before the trainers.

In fact, Black was fairly certain he had met this pokemon before. "Is that the same Snivy that Juniper had when she came by my place? I'm impressed Bianca! He was not very impressed by me."

With a huff, Snivy crossed his arms and turned away from the trainer before him. "Vy, Snivy!"

Bianca awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck and gave the best apologetic smile she could. "Yeah, he's not a fan of most people. Not sure why he liked me so much, but I'll take what I can get." She consciously spread her feet apart and lowered herself slightly. "But enough talk, let's start!"

And so they did. Lily and Snivy fought rather intensely for the first battle between their trainers, neither pokemon willing to let up and disappoint their trainers.

Lily opened the battle with a vicious bite attack, which made Snivy flinch in response. This extra time allowed Black to have her tackle the grass snake before it could respond.

Bianca would not allow him to push them around, however. When she ordered, Snivy unleashed a hail of vine whips which made cracking sounds to be heard for quite some distance around them.

Faced with a perilous wall of vines before her, Lily proceeded to growl at her attacker. Her attempts to be intimidating, however, led to Snivy not taking her seriously. The pokemon's ensuing strikes seemed to be less in power.

"Don't underestimate her, Snivy! Lily, take down attack!"

With that, the small terrier before them leapt into action, sprinting forward with enough momentum to tackle a creature many times her size. Snivy was unable to avoid the attack in time.

 _POW!_

Snivy lay still, only his steady breathing disrupting the stillness of the following scene.

"Oh no, Snivy!" Bianca rushed to recall the pokemon into his ball. "Rest well, little guy. You deserve it."

She swapped the ball for the other one in her bag and tossed it upward. "Come on out, Lillipup!"

The pokemon which appeared from the bright light stood tall, bravely facing down his foe. The more timid Lily, despite her victory, was overtaken with her own nervousness. Black noticed this and elected to recall his pokemon as well.

"You did amazing, Lily. I'll get you some berry juice or something later. Now then…" He reached for his belt and swapped out for his only other pokemon. "Your turn, Cinder!"

The Tepig emerged from his pokeball ready for action. He huffed and puffed, releasing smoke into the field before him. After a moment of this, he stomped his hooves as a show of his confidence. "Te-piiiiig!"

The opposing lillipup appeared unfazed by this bravado before him. He didn't so much as bark in response, merely allowing his silence to confuse the pokemon before him.

Bianca took initiative. "Lillipup! Use take down!"

In a similar fashion to Lily's finishing move, this lillipup rushed forward with incredible momentum in order to ram into Cinder with great force. The recoil from the attack was notable, and Cinder stood fast. He hadn't so much as leaned away from the attack.

"Way to soak up that hit, Cinder! Now give them your best ember!"

The tepig grinned at the command. Oddly enough, the look which caught Lillipup resembled a leer, and had a similar effect. Where once a brave pup stood, there now was a shivering mess of a pokemon. Within moments, Cinder inhaled a big breath and unleashed a collection of flames, each little ember finding its own place in the environment to rest.

Unfortunately for Lillipup, some of them rested upon his fur. "Pup! Pup!" He cried out, pained as the ember burned him.

Both trainers hesitated, uncertain on whether or not to stop the battle.

Black reached for his pokedex for input on the battle while Bianca second-guessed herself on how to proceed.

"This pokemon has been burned by an attack! Eventually, this can lead to a pokemon fainting. It is recommended that you visit a pokemon center to treat it if you are not currently in a battle." The robotic voice told him all he needed to know.

Looking up from the dex, a whole new scene had unfolded before him. Lillipup was rolling in the grass in attempts to put out the embers which had landed on him. Cinder had dropped the bloodthirsty attitude in favor of putting out embers which had landed in dry patches of grass, and Bianca had been brought to tears in her indecision.

Black couldn't help but facepalm. He slid off his jacket and dashed to the burning lillipup. Then, he thoroughly patted the dog down, putting out any flames which remained from his rolling around. When the dog was put out, he glanced back toward Cinder. He seemed to be handling the remaining embers easily by stamping them out.

Black finally stood to address Bianca. "Looks like everything's sorted out, now. Sorry about Cinder. Guess I underestimated that little guy's ember, huh?"

Bianca finally looked back up to him, struggling to hold back further tears as she carefully spoke. "I'm sorry, I didn't know what to do." Her voice threatened to give out with every word.

He approached her and offered a reassuring pat on the back. "Hey, everything's fine. The battle got a little destructive, it happens. I think. You should recall your lillipup and get him to a pokemon center, though. There should be one just up ahead."

She nodded and recalled her pokemon. "Alright, I'm going over there right now! I'll run into you again, and next time we should-" the anxiety caused her voice to give out. She stood, focused on not crying, before simply nodding to Black and making a beeline for the Striaton pokemon center.

Black sighed. _Some things never change._

Cinder wandered back to his trainer before long, having put out all of his embers. "Tepig." Ears down, he apologized for the damage he almost caused.

Black knelt down and pet the pokemon. "Nonsense, little guy. That was a really strong attack, just be careful next time. I think that ember will look more like a flamethrower in no time!"

Reassured, the pokemon smiled at his trainer. "Teh-pig!"

Black stood back up. "Well, we didn't take much damage in that fight. Let's explore town a bit before we head to the center or the gym. Maybe we'll catch Cheren at the trainer school."

The two casually approached Striaton City.

* * *

While wandering around a bit, Black had noticed a few glaring facts about the city.

Despite being a reasonably large city, the streets were nigh deserted. Aside from one or two wary souls and the occasional tourist or trainer, few seemed to be actively wandering the streets.

Furthermore, the pokemon gym was practically deserted. It had been the first building he saw upon entering the city limits, but despite the location the only activity was a man with blue hair arguing with a man with red hair.

"Cress! We can't wager the gym on a pokemon battle! Cilan would never agree to that, and there's no way we can beat that pokemon."

The blue haired man, Cress apparently, rubbed his forehead momentarily. "We don't have a choice. If Cilan doesn't return within a few days, I'm afraid we have no way out of this. If you hadn't gotten so worked up, we could have avoided this situation. Chili, you got us into this mess, and now you have to get us out."

Interested in what may have been the only drama in the entire city, Black inched closer to the duo. Based on their appearances, it was a safe bet that they were brothers. "Um, hey! Are you guys alright?" Black gave in to his curiosity and called out to the two.

Both men jumped at the new presence. Cress was the first to turn and greet the newcomer. "We've been better. If I may ask, who are you?" Chili nodded along with his brother and stuck his hands in his coat pockets.

Black now approached to close the gap. "My name's Black. I'm a pokemon trainer. You…" he glanced between the two men momentarily, taking note of their clashing color schemes, "...wouldn't happen to know the gym leader here, would you?"

The men sighed, almost in unison.

The red-haired man, Chili, responded first. "That would be us. Three brothers are the designated gym leaders here. I'm Chili." He motioned to the other. "This would be Cress, my brother. And Cilan isn't here at the moment, but he would be the third sibling." He paused a moment and proceeded to gesture at the dim building behind him. "This is our gym. A little empty right now, but once all of this crap is dealt with we should be freely open to the public once more."

Black took some satisfaction in having his observations confirmed, but less so in that last statement. "Does that mean you aren't accepting gym battle challenges right now?"

Cress stepped in to answer this one. "I'm afraid we have significantly less free time to take on-demand challenges at this time. We can schedule an appointment for tomorrow afternoon if you'd like, but at this moment we have things to deal with."

Black nodded. "That's fair enough, I guess. So like, tomorrow at twelve-thirty? I guess I can train until then."

Cress and Chili simultaneously broke out into a minor spiel. "We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the situation at hand. We appreciate your patience in this trying time." Both seemed to grumble the last few words of the statement.

"Well, thanks anyway. I'll catch you guys tomorrow." With a wave, Black began to turn away from the duo before stopping when one of the brothers called out.

"Actually. I think we could use your assistance." Chili groaned as Cress called back the trainer.

"Cress, we can handle this ourselves! Fennel won't mind if it's a little bit late."

Cress shushed his brother. "We don't have time to deal with Fennel's request right now. This is the best solution." He turned back to Black. "Could we persuade you to help us in collecting some dream mist?"

Black's face went blank. "I have no idea what that is."

Chili picked up the slack. "It's a mist left behind by certain pokemon that live in the Dreamyard, just east of here. It's tangible, collectable, and Fennel wants it for her research into dreams." He paused a moment. "You're from down south, right? That means Professor Juniper gave you your starter pokemon, yeah? I'm sure she'd appreciate you helping Fennel, as a fellow scientist."

Black shrugged. "Sure, I guess. Just find some, what, pink mist and collect it? How hard can it be? Not like I have much else to do until tomorrow."

Cress nudged his brother. "Told you we could get help." Turning back to Black once more, he continued. "As soon as Fennel notifies us that you have dropped off the dream mist, we'll battle you as soon as we have a moment. Normally, we would ask you what you started with, but since this is a bit of a personal favor I will battle you regardless of your starter for the gym badge."

Black smiled. "I look forward to it. Catch you guys later, then!" Again, he turns to check out the rest of town.

Chili sighed. "Well, that's one thing off our plate. But how do we handle that other challenge without Cilan here?"


	10. Dragon Her Along

Team Plasma's grunts were hardly seen favorably among the citizens of Unova. Between the safe release of their imprisoned pokemon, and the reasonably over-the-top methods for doing so, anyone could understand why.

As such, Team Plasma's operations, while ultimately good in intention, had been relegated to the dark alleys and corners of Castelia City. Just about anyone could tell you that Plasma was present, likely within a thousand feet of anyone at any time, few could tell you where exactly that might be.

One girl had taken far too much interest in the shadowy organization's whereabouts in the past couple days.

"Your orders come from Ghetsis himself. Deal with the newcomer who is seeking out Plasma hideouts within Castelia. Check in when you have dealt with the problem. Over."

The voice, distorted by radio frequencies and sheer distance, came through loud and clear for one particular Plasma grunt.

Sam Calla couldn't help but smile through her newfound excitement. "Affirmative. Over and out." With no time to waste, she turned off her walkie-talkie and slid it into one of her tabard's inside pockets.

In her giddiness, she couldn't help but mumble to herself as she made her way to the assigned location. "There's no way I'll let the sages down! They'll _have_ to notice me after this."

Her expression then turned from excited to grim. "Whatever you do, Sam, _do not_ fail."

* * *

Finding evidence of Team Plasma activity in the bustling city had been far from difficult. On the contrary, it had been as simple as visiting the police station.

Directed to Aster, Zinnia allowed a brief complaint to surface. "If only infiltrating team Aqua and Team Magma had been this easy."

Based on what they found out from the station, Team Plasma operated out of the dark alleys and abandoned buildings within the city. One passerby, a ginger girl in her mid-teens, also mentioned that Plasma was almost always lurking around the alleys behind the pokemon gym in town.

Zinnia would have asked her for a bit more information, but the girl had all but disappeared when a larger crowd passed between them.

So, despite the overwhelming sense that this was some sort of trap or, worse, a dead end with no helpful information, Zinnia made her way to the pokemon gym after checking in with Burgh.

"I can go with you if you want," he had said. "Team Plasma is tricky, and I wouldn't want you to be captured or hurt."

Zinnia had declined the offer. "I can handle myself. I've only been bested by a couple trainers in my life, I doubt some pseudo-vegans can put a dent in my lineup."

With that thought in mind, she had carefully approached the darkest part of Castelia City.

A narrow walkway beside the gym and some random office building, around six feet across at the most, showed its age through the poorly maintained pavement making up the path. There was ample space above, as no rooftops connected, allowing what little sunlight reached this area to provide some amount of heat. Off in the distance, a trash can lay on its side, knocked over an indeterminant amount of time before. Even the smell of this place, reminiscent of dust and rotting fruit, betrayed its ages since common use. Off to the side, an empty syringe rested just feet away from an intersecting alleyway. As far as anyone could tell, this place was as empty as empty gets.

"Nothing. Had a feeling it was a bunch of crap. Let's go Aster." Only a dead-end and an intersecting walkway had met her here. Aster hastily pointed out the other walkway, but Zinnia shook her head. "I'm not trapping myself in a maze in a city I don't know. Sorry, that's just a bad ide-"

"HEY! Come on! I devised this devious trap for you and you won't even trip it off?!" Came a voice from around the corner to Zinnia's left.

Aster jumped at the loud noise and hid behind Zinnia's leg. Even Zinnia flinched when the unknown person yelled out, but she turned quickly and maintained her composure.

"Who's there?"

A giggle which can only be described as the overdone laughter of a teenaged girl met the duo. "Why don't you come over and see?"

Zinnia stared at the corner on her left intently. "No way, you already told me there was a trap here. I'm not stupid, you know."

The hooded head of a Team Plasma Grunt poked around the corner. "Oh, shit. I did, huh?"

A few moments of silence passed between the two. Zinnia couldn't help but facepalm in the situation.

"You realize you've now, without a doubt, revealed yourself, right? Unless there's someone approaching from behind," she glanced at Aster, who shook her head, "You have to do whatever you were planning right now."

The grunt huffed. "Fine. Just battle me already so I can free your pokemon."

As she turned the corner and stood face-to-face with Zinnia, both girls adopted a stance.

On one side, Sam stood fast, reminiscent of a knight preparing to strike with their sword.

On the other, Zinnia stood low to the ground, a crazy look overtaking her, as if she might eat her opponent in the end. As she quickly bounced back and forth, Aster found cover further back. The trash can which had long since had its contents spread about now served as a barrier for the undoubtedly explosive battle before it.

Sam made the first move. The ginger threw out her pokeball. "Go get 'em, Sandile!"

Zinnia, not totally certain how to proceed, allowed instinct to take over as she sent out her pokemon. "Let's do this, Salamence!"

The pokemon stood facing each other momentarily, sizing each other up. Sandile, admittedly a little chubby as far as sandiles went, betrayed his fear for the pokemon in front of him nearly instantly.

"No Sandile! Stand fast!"

The pokemon hesitantly spread his legs and lowered himself to the ground. "Sand…"

Salamence smiled maniacally toward the pokemon before him. His mere presence had intimidated the small creature, and Zinnia knew full well he was the type to mock those who feared him.

"Not the time, buddy. Salamence, use your dragon claw attack."

The dragon nodded his understanding and began to centralize his power into his claws. He quickly took off, straight into the air, and began his speedy descent.

Sam took note of his trajectory and formulated her own idea. "Sandile, quick! Dig!"

The smaller pokemon, more out of fear than the result of his trainer's order, scraped away at the ground below him, tearing concrete and stones out of the ground as he quickly dove beneath the surface.

With no target left on the surface and minimal wiggle room on either side of him, Salamence flexed his wings and redirected his momentum to fly back upward.

Sam saw her opportunity and took it. "Sandile, Now's your chance! Stone edge!"

The small pokemon emerged from his hole and set to work focusing his energy on the newly-dug stones around him. In moments, they were flung by an intangible force and flew right toward Salamence, his back still to the battlefield.

Zinnia gritted her teeth. _For a kid, this grunt isn't half bad._

"Salamence, evasive maneuvers!" The dragon pokemon spared a glance backward, calculating his next movements. With a simple barrel roll and momentarily tucked in wing, he managed to avoid the attack entirely. "Now, dragon claw once more!"

"Sandile, dig again!" The small crocodile attempted in vain to dig himself a safe shelter, but the dragon had been in position to quickly reach terminal velocity. Almost faster than either trainer could watch, the blue and red streak collided spectacularly with the ground, as well as a very small pokemon.

Zinnia, prepared for such a move, lifted the collar of her cloak to cover her face. Sam only watched in horror as a cloud of debris rushed toward her.

The dust eventually settled, at least one trainer in the midst of a coughing fit, before either could see the victorious salamence nudging his unconscious opponent.

"Sandile!" Sam rushed to her fallen pokemon, barely holding back tears. "Sandile, are you okay?!"

Zinnia also approached the scene, hand held out to pat Salamence's head. "I doubt he's conscious, but he'll be fine. That was only a single attack, after all."

The Plasma grunt recalled her pokemon and stood to face the woman who beat her. She took a breath, and Zinnia prepared for the complaining and whining a something-like-fifteen-year-old would inevitably do after losing as handily as her. What happened next caught her off guard.

"That was AWESOME!" The girl's eyes lit up, as if they, themselves, contained stars. "The way your Salamence just crashed down into the ground! NYOOOOOOOOOOMBUAGH!" Her retelling of the events, while comedic, was certainly unexpected. Her arms mimicked the movements of an explosion as she put her whole body into retelling and reimagining the scenario.

"Aren't you mad that I beat you, or something?" Zinnia recalled her salamence, who grinned up until he disappeared entirely. "And, while I'm at it, shouldn't you be irked that I used a pokemon as a 'tool' to beat you, or something?"

The hooded girl stopped making sound effects momentarily to think up a response. "Well, it was really cool. And your Salamence obviously respects you. I disagree with pokemon training as a practice, but every so often someone gets it right, I suppose." The girl went back to reimagining the scene, but suddenly tripped on something Zinnia had not been aware of.

A thin, nigh-invisible string knocked over a long pole when caught onto the grunt's foot. This caused a bucket on top to come crashing down and empty its contents, water, right onto the girl's head.

"Owwwwww…"

Zinnia snorted and erupted into laughter, only calming once Aster came to see if she was okay. "THAT was your trap?! Oh my god, that shit was pure gold!"

Wet, defeated, yet still in good spirits, the girl couldn't keep herself from mimicking the older woman's laughter. "I can't believe I forgot about that too! I must have stepped over the string when I started the battle!"

The two continued like this for some time before they both calmed down. That's when both got back to business.

Sam asked the first question after an uncomfortable silence.

"Why are you interested in Team Plasma?"

Zinnia stared directly at the girl. "I want to infiltrate your organization for the purpose of collecting data, to be used for my own purposes." She pointed back toward the crater Salamence had made earlier. "And there's no way you're going to stop me."

Sam gulped at that. Zinnia shrugged, indifferent to her response.

Zinnia continued. "My turn. Why do you work with Team Plasma? You seem to enjoy pokemon battles, and you're awfully young. Plasma cares for neither of these things."

The girl gazed upward momentarily before giving her best answer. "Well, I know that pokemon are abused by their trainers. I also know that pokemon are forcefully captured from the wild by trainers. They're seen as cheap labor, and as 'tools' for the furthering of mankind. I disagree with that."

Zinnia rebutted. "Yet, Team Plasma uses pokemon to 'liberate' everyone else's. That's like, mega hypocritical, don't you think?"

Silence followed that point. Sam seemed genuinely interested in pondering it further, when a buzzing noise was heard, followed by a voice.

"All units, begin operation dragonstone. Repeat: begin operation dragonstone."

Zinnia, now alert, jumped up and made a grab for the girl in front of her. "What's that? What is operation dragonstone?"

Forced to stand, her only resistance being her hands in front of her face, Sam responded. "It-it's when we go to Pinwheel Forest to cover the escape of operatives stealing something from the museum in Nacrene city. That's all I know, honest!" Fear presented itself on the girl's face when confronted with Zinnia's leer.

Zinnia released her hold on the girl. "Go. I'm going to follow you."

Terrified, Sam nodded and turned to run toward the eastern gateway into town. Before she got far, however, Zinnia grabbed the end of her tabard from the back.

"If you sell me out, I can guarantee your operation fails. I will not interfere; I only want to observe."

With a gulp and a nod for assurance, the girl felt relief from the woman's hold. She proceeded to run as fast as she could out of town. Zinnia allowed a couple of minutes for the girl to get out of sight before following, tracking her by scent more than anything else. Oddly, she smelled a bit like coconut. She did not seem the type for the Team Plasma crowd. Regardless, Zinnia wordlessly followed Sam through Castelia City.

 _I'll be damned if I let this chance get away from me._


End file.
